How To Painlessly Fake Full Lips, Sans Lip Fillers

Two words: makeup magic. Luscious, pillowy, KarJenner-level lips have their appeal, but there's no need to go under the needle to plump up your puckers.

by Natalyn Chan | May 15, 2018

Remember that time people got admitted into the hospital for trying out the Kylie Jenner Lip cChallenge? Thankfully for our sanity, that trend has died down, but not the idea of fuller lips.

Let’s be honest here, luscious lips are enviable. It’s all about surface area, right? You get more space to play with colour, so a red lip, for example, looks even stronger. But, of course, not everyone wants to go under the needle, and we’re not asking you to. While the saying no pain no gain is often true, beauty shouldn’t equate to pain when there are plenty of viable alternatives.

Since the rise of the KarJenners, numerous have tried natural irritants – the word “natural” to be taken with a pinch of salt – like cayenne and ginger oil, but these can cause inflammation and increased sensitivity. Plus, if you accidentally touch your eye, you’ll have more than burning lips to deal with.

Then, there’s make magic. The easiest is to line your lips a little beyond your natural lip line. You can also contour your lips by adding highlighter to your cupid’s bow to make it pop, then applying a lighter shade or a gloss at the centre of the lips and contouring powder under your bottom lips to create more depth. It’s almost exactly the same as cheekbone contouring.

Although it may not seem like much, all these added up can really make a difference and give the illusion of thicker, fuller lips that will come in very handy on days where you’d like a little drama for your face. Below, we’ve gathered a few lip plumping products that will add shine and volume to your pout. (Psst, the Dior Addict Lip Maximiser is a favourite of mine.)